Tom Long Film Review: 'Couples Retreat' -- GRADE: C-

Review: Lazy, predictable 'Couples Retreat' offers cliches instead of fun

Thirteen years ago Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau were just about the coolest guys around, fast-talking and finger-snapping their way through the indie-movie sensation "Swingers," bringing the heat on all fronts.

They were so money.

Now here they are in the flabby comedy "Couples Retreat," shambling through a tepid, middle-aged, psychobabble formula flick directed by longtime Vaughn posse member Peter Billingsley (yes, he's the grown-up kid from "A Christmas Story").

Don't misunderstand. Both Favreau (who directed "Iron Man") and Vaughn (who needs to tax himself a bit more) are still strong talents. They just don't show it here. It's particularly embarrassing because they also co-wrote the script, along with Dana Fox.

In truth this is one of those films, like last week's "Whip It" and so many others of late, that looks like it was a lot fun to make. It's just not all that much fun to watch.

Vaughn plays Dave, happily married to Ronnie (Malin Akerman), with two kids. They are friends with Joey (Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis), high school sweethearts secretly planning to divorce when their daughter goes away to college; Cynthia (Kristen Bell) and Jason (Jason Bateman), considering divorce after being unable to conceive; and Shane (Faizon Love), recently divorced and hanging with 20-year-old girlfriend Trudy (Kali Hawk).

In one of those absurd, only-in-movies scenes, Jason and Cynthia ask the others to go on a couples retreat -- pretty much immediately -- with them to an exotic island, where they're hoping to get counseling to save their marriage while the others are free to frolic. And of course everybody eventually agrees or there would be no movie.

Once there, though, the couples discover they are all required to go through therapy or else leave the resort and forfeit their airfare. So, what the heck, they agree.

Thus begins a cliché parade -- the hippie-dippy love guru (Jean Reno), the hot yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce), the uptight majordomo (Peter Serafinowicz), professional massages as would-be liaisons, therapy sessions that reveal hidden truths.

Much of the comedy depends on Vaughn's near-patented capacity to rant about things, but somehow those rants don't have the edge they used to. One even takes on Richard Simmons. Really? Richard Simmons?

Absolutely nothing unexpected happens and Vaughn ties up all the happy endings with a "what the heck, we all have problems" speech sure to make psychotherapists everywhere shudder. And while that might not necessarily be a bad thing, it is completely predictable.

The entire film has the feel of a Vaughn boys' club party where the actresses were asked to come along for the paycheck. Check out the official billing, where the four male characters are listed above the four females. When did Faizon Love become a bigger name than Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman, each of whom appeared in a film that made more than $100 million last year?

But hey, it's just Vince and Jon playing. And that's the problem. These dudes have so much potential. And "Couples Retreat" is so not money.

tlong@detnews.com (313) 22-8879